NATIONAL HARBOR, Maryland -- A Norwegian company hopes the U.S. Navy will see the value in its revolutionary product: bullets that "swim" and remain effective on target for significant distances underwater.
The secret to DSG Technology's CAV-X supercavitating bullets is a specially turned tip and carefully calibrated balance and mass, creating an air bubble that allows the munition to shoot through the water, said Kristian Aksnes, director of Special Operations Forces for DSG. The bullets are tungsten with a brass shell and designed to be fired from conventional weapons, he said.
While Aksnes said the technology is completely scalable, the company is offering the bullets in NATO 12.7, 7.62 and 5.56mm, as well as smaller calibers. The 12.7mm bullet, a machine gun round, has an effective range of 2,200 meters through the air and 60 meters underwater, according to the company. The 7.62 and 5.56 rifle rounds are effective underwater at 22 and 14 meters, respectively.
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The company released the product earlier this year and has already sold small quantities of CAV-X bullets for research and development testing to international militaries that Aksnes declined to name.
"Many countries are trying it out," he said. "And hopefully they'll come back and buy more."
Aksnes said the company has also fielded interest from the U.S. military, noting that "special communities" who operate in and near the water would find the technology useful. In a promotional video here at the Navy League's Sea-Air-Space conference, DSG showed a visualization of an Independence-class littoral combat ship shooting the rounds into the water from a deck-mounted gun.
At larger calibers, he said, the technology has the potential to aid harbor and beachhead defense and to assist in countermine and counter-torpedo operations.
"You can fire from a helicopter and take out a sub if you have a big enough caliber," he said.
